Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight was 17.1% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Sri Lanka, 1987–2024
Source: Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME) - UNICEF, WHO, and World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in % of children under 5.
Analysis
In 2024, malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Sri Lanka stood at 17.1%.
That represents a change of down 34.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Sri Lanka peaked at 29.5% in 1987 and was at its lowest, 12.2%, in 2021.
Sri Lanka ranks 22nd of 96 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 14 years of available data.
Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Sri Lanka, year by year
| Year | % of children under 5 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1987 | 29.5% | — |
| 1993 | 29.1% | -1.4% |
| 1995 | 29.3% | +0.7% |
| 2000 | 22.9% | -21.8% |
| 2007 | 22.1% | -3.5% |
| 2009 | 21.6% | -2.3% |
| 2012 | 26.1% | +20.8% |
| 2016 | 20.5% | -21.5% |
| 2019 | 14.0% | -31.7% |
| 2020 | 13.1% | -6.4% |
| 2021 | 12.2% | -6.9% |
| 2022 | 15.3% | +25.4% |
| 2023 | 17.1% | +11.8% |
| 2024 | 17.1% | +0.0% |
Sri Lanka compared with similar countries
- Sri Lanka's 17.1% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 4.0%, 4.2× the median. (26 countries reporting)
- Sri Lanka's 17.1% is below the median for South Asia, which is 17.7%, 97% of the median. (6 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 29.5% | 29.5% | 29.5% | 1 |
| 1990s | 29.2% | 29.1% | 29.3% | 2 |
| 2000s | 22.2% | 21.6% | 22.9% | 3 |
| 2010s | 20.2% | 14.0% | 26.1% | 3 |
| 2020s | 15.0% | 12.2% | 17.1% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Sri Lanka
More reference data data for Sri Lanka
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.1608 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.316 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 2.33 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.1784 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 2.33 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.539 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.1604 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 1.63 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 10.15 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.9713 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Sri Lanka?
- Malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Sri Lanka was 17.1% in 2024, according to Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME) - UNICEF, WHO, and World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest malnutrition: share of children who are underweight recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 29.5% in 1987.
- What is the lowest malnutrition: share of children who are underweight recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 12.2% in 2021.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for malnutrition: share of children who are underweight?
- Sri Lanka ranks 22nd out of 96 countries with data for 2024.
- Is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is down 34.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Sri Lanka data come from?
- The figures come from Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME) - UNICEF, WHO, and World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 14 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
The share of children younger than five years old whose weight for age is more than two standard deviations below the median for the international reference population for ages 0-59 months.